Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
How important is the originating country of backlinks?
-
How important is it that you gain backlinks from websites in the same country you're targeting?
Scenario: You have a website targeting users in Japan. How important is it that backlinks to your website are from Japanese websites? Do you need a majority of links from Japanese websites to rank well, or will you do OK with 25% Japanese links and 75% links from other countries?
According to Majestic, sites for popular Japanese brands like tsutaya.co.jp and seiyu.co.jp get more links from US sites than from Japanese sites.
-
I agree with Tom. Backlinks can be from anywhere as long as they don't appear to be blatant spam. I tend to agree that a backlink serves a greater purpose than just link juice and may actually send relevant traffic and business to your company. I would try to target as many local links as possible, but branching out to a global mindset won't hurt at all.
-
It's by no means essential.
I've worked on a number of international sites and you quickly realise that while a website is setup with a geographical TLD and is fully served for that language's audience, the server is located in the US - where so much hosting is. Regardless, this has not stopped the site's ability to rank.
Similarly, evidence of links from a different country working can unfortunately be found in places like SAPE - the russian link network. I've seen countless of websites rank #1, #2 with links from these websites in Russia, Uzbekistan and so on - Google wouldn't be targeting these links if they didn't work.
However, my mindset has always been to acquire links from places that are going to send the most targeted and relevant traffic to your site. In the scenario you've given, this would most likely mean trying to earn as many Japanese backlinks as possible. Links from other places may increase organic visibility, but more often than not referring traffic from links you've earned can be far more qualified and convert more often - so I would aim to get them via links from the country.
Just my £0.02
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Moz API Spam Score - Backlinks
Hi, everyone I am trying to get my website DA up. I have analyzed my competitors and thanks to Moz I have idea and insights of how my competitors get backlinks. But, some of them are old school techniques. Also my website has some PBNs no follow backlinks does it affect my website ranking? Their spam score is 10-40. But other competitors has them as well. Does anyone know indepth on this topic?
Link Building | Dec 2, 2024, 7:09 AM | RejinKayastha1 -
How does indexing backlinks affect SEO and search engine rankings?
Indexing backlinks plays a crucial role in the overall SEO strategy and search engine rankings. When search engines like Google crawl and index a website, they also consider the quality and relevance of the backlinks pointing to that site. Here's why indexing backlinks is important: Visibility in Search Results: Indexing ensures that search engines recognize and attribute value to the backlinks you have acquired. When indexed, these backlinks contribute to the overall link profile of your website and can positively impact your visibility in search results. Faster Indexation: By submitting your backlinks for indexing, you can speed up the process of search engines discovering and recognizing those links. This helps search engines recognize the relevance and authority of your website sooner. Enhanced Crawling and Ranking: Indexing allows search engines to crawl and evaluate the backlinks pointing to your site. These backlinks are considered as signals of trust and authority, which can influence your search engine rankings. Improved Domain Authority: When high-quality backlinks pointing to your site are indexed, they contribute to your website's Domain Authority (DA). A higher DA indicates a more authoritative and reputable website, which can positively impact your rankings and organic search visibility. Competitive Advantage: Indexing your backlinks gives you a competitive edge by ensuring that the value and authority of those links are properly recognized and taken into account by search engines. This can help you outrank competitors who may have unindexed or low-quality backlinks. It's important to note that not all backlinks may require manual indexing, as search engines can discover and index them naturally. However, for specific or newly acquired backlinks that may not be indexed quickly, manual submission or using indexing services can help ensure they are recognized by search engines and contribute to your overall SEO efforts.
Link Building | Apr 3, 2024, 7:19 PM | Morries88880 -
Footer backlink for/to Web Design Agency
I read some old (10+ years) information on whether footer backlinks from the websites that design agencies build are seen as spammy and potentially cause a negative effect. We have over 150 websites that we have built over the last few years, all with sitewide footer backlinks back to our homepage (designed and managed by COMPANY NAME). Semrush flags some of the links as potential spammy links. What are the current thoughts on this type of footer backlink? Are we better to have 1 dofollow backlink and the rest of the website nofollow from each domain?
Link Building | Oct 26, 2024, 3:42 PM | MultiAdE1 -
When conducting a link building strategy does it matter the country the link is from?
We are a UK business and if we have links mostly from US based blogs and websites does this penalise us. The links are from relevant websites and topics. Should we be focusing on .co.uk sites
Link Building | Dec 24, 2019, 1:43 PM | Caffeine_Marketing1 -
A lot of backlinks from outside of niche – bad?
We have received a lot of backlinks over the years by users putting links on their websites to their home pages on our site, eg: our.domain/user1 our.domain/user2 … our.domain/user100000 There are 10’s of thousands of these backlinks, all natural, but many of them come from blogs that are completely outside of our niche. Only a small percentage of our backlinks 1% to 5% could actually be coming from pages related to our niche, the other 95%+ could be users just linking to their home pages. Could this really hurt us..? We have 1000’s of backlinks related to our niche, yet we’ve noticed that some competitors with less than 50 backlinks can outrank us for certain keywords.. Also related, we’ve noticed these user links popping up on a lot of spammy sites, directories, etc. We didn’t create them but we’re disavowing them now to be safe. So this could also be hitting our rankings.
Link Building | Jan 4, 2016, 4:20 AM | dsumter0 -
Does this count as a backlink to my category page?
I am ranking high with a certain category page and I am reading that I need backlinks to that page. It is going to be a challenge to get a backlink to that specific category page but how about this? Category page URL: www.mysite.com/category/name Backlink to this URL: www.mysite.com/category/name/specific-blog-post (EDIT: Apparently these types of links don't exist! I went into the category page and clicked on a blog post and it just gave me the www.mysite.com/blah-blah-blah) Will that count as a backlink to the category page? Right now I am only getting backlinks to these blog posts: www.mysite.com/this-is-a-blog-post Any help appreciated! EDIT: Well I guess now my question is worthless. But if you have any input, it would be appreciated.
Link Building | Jun 11, 2013, 3:18 PM | dealblogger0 -
How to get BackLinks?
What is the best site to get backlinks ? Not for free, i mean a paid premium services . I think i need backlinks for the authority of my sites. My sites are indexed, but when i search for different keywords on google, i find them on page 5-7 . I need to see them on page 1-2 . But my site's authority is : 1 .
Link Building | Feb 2, 2013, 8:09 PM | vende123450 -
Should I Use a Backlink Plugin
One of my clients recently asked me if he should use a Wordpress plugin to create backlinks to his website. He mentioned WP-Syndicator as an example. I just redesigned his website and I'd like to ensure that he gets a bit more traffic than he was before. Should I suggest that he purchase/use a Wordpress backlink plugin? If so does anyone know which is the best one? Not sure if it's necessary, but here is the website I'm referring to http://intouchhome.com
Link Building | Dec 29, 2012, 3:29 AM | eddie_olivas0